Around the house...

The kitchen window

The view from my kitchen window

The eucalyptus trees where the Vervet monkies frolic

Palm trees in our yard. :o)

Just a few pictures to give you another glimpse of "home".

I forgot to mention that we are all healthy this week!

Praise the Lord!

Blackout #3

Our whole town was in a blackout today for 4 hours - at the hottest part of the day! :o) Not fun! I just happened to be alone in the mall when it happened. I was in Clicks, similar to CVS, picking up a few things and with no warning or flickering lights, the darkness hit and could be felt. Pitch black. I could not even see my hands, much less who was standing next to me. Backup generators are not required here. So there I stood. I instinctively clutched my purse tightly as I quickly put what I had to purchase back down and made my way to the door. It was busy and tense. The security guards were scrambling for the front doors to prevent anyone from running out and stealing. It was quite an unsettling strange feeling - to feel paralyzed by darkness.

They've stated that apparently there isn't enough electricity in South Africa right now with a main plant being down in Cape Town. So for the next week, they will be enforcing random blackouts across the country to 'spare' the electricity. How nice of them. Our town is having their own issues as well; there was the 72 hour blackout in October, a 24 hour blackout in December, and various patches (weekly) in between. They stated in the local paper last week that the part needed is "on order" and should be fixed......BY JUNE!!!!! Ever since the 72 hour blackout in October, we've got it down to a science now - what to do when our power flickers on - because we never know just how long it's gonna be there! Never take that stuff for granted!

And yes - to those of you that were wondering - the first thing we do when power flickers back on is make coffee. :o)

Does this look good or what? :o)

Ahh! The blessings of living in the Southern Hemisphere right now!

Sick!

My sweet son came down with tonsilitis midweek. My daughter is still fighting bronchitis from when we were in the USA. This makes almost 8 weeks straight of either one or both of my children being sick non-stop! Needless to say, we are wiped out and exhausted. Pray for us! Both of the kids today though are showing marked improvement - for which we are so glad! I've got tons and tons of pictures waiting to upload, but for now, you'll just have to wait! :o)

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby!

~Just hours old ~

One year ago today, we held our precious baby girl in our arms for the first time...just seconds after birth. Today has been such a sweet, special day - filled with unexpressable gratitude for this precious baby. You see, she was born with only one functioning kidney. Although she is so very healthy today, during those first few days of her life things were so very uncertain to us. Yet we KNOW our lives are NEVER uncertain to Him. Thank you Lord for this precious gift. We love you pretty girl!

~6 months old ~

~One Year ~

Robbed!

When we arrived home - weary from traveling and excited to be 'home' - we stepped in the front door and stopped dead. Both my husband and I were speechless.

Our eyes were immediately drawn to the curtainless kitchen window, the black welding marks on the iron bars over the window, and the chunks of red mud smeared on the floor. All at once we saw the police report on the counter and it clicked - we had been the victims of a heartless crime.

My eyes burned with tears. In disbelief, we wandered through the house - afraid to learn of what had been stolen. The security company had locked all the bedroom doors after responding to the alarm. And the keys were no where to be found. Great. Who has them?

To make a long story short, we were able to find the keys. They were in safe hands - the security company. Praise the Lord! So again, in disbelief, we wandered through the house - afraid to learn of what had been stolen. Exposed. Vulnerable. Violated. Angry. Broken. Afraid. Pity for people we love so much. Where had they been? What had they seen? What had they done in the cover of darkness?

We had hid some of the electronic items that we possess in the event that we were robbed. Thankfully, they did not have time to find those items as the alarm was blaring and they only had minutes till our armed response came.

Thankfully they didn't steal much. And what they did steal were things that were ready to be replaced anyway! In amongst the turmoil of such a thing, I marvelled at the protection of the Lord and His mercy.

I was comforted with the story of Noah, oddly enough. Sometimes life's circumstances are out of our control. Sometimes, with eyes of flesh, I make the error of thinking that perhaps God wasn't looking. However, God is in control. God IS in control. I imagined what Noah must've felt like in that ark. Rain pouring. Death surrounding them on the other side of that gopher wood ark. Of course we can read the whole story in 2 minutes and see how it all played out. But put yourself in his shoes. With eyes of flesh, I'm sure at times, he wondered if God had forgotten them. But God remembered Noah and his family. Through it all God was in perfect control. With eyes of faith, I am encouraged to trust in that simple fact. He IS in control. Always. Totally. He that keepeth Israel shall never slumber nor sleep! The Lord is my helper!

The Great Plane Ride

Tuesday came quicker than we thought possible. It was a day of busyness...of sadness...of joy...of frustration! Yes mixed emotions, you could say!

The Lord gave obvious grace when the moment came to say goodbye to our dear families at the airport. Airports. Missionaries tend to have a love/hate relationship with them. Sometimes they're the best place in the world (picking up loved ones) - and sometimes they're the worst (saying goodbyes)! He put a joy in our hearts to be in Africa again....to be with the people we love and have been called to minister to!

The Lord also answered several prayers...
We were not charged for the extra suitcase we had
The children slept for the better part of the 18hour flight.
We only had 3 tickets, but were able to have an entire row (4 seats) both legs of the flight.
We had assistance from two porters when we arrived at the airport in Johannesburg. They took care of everything and even got us in special lines for both passports and customs. Very nice!
We were able to stay at a Bed & Breakfast that night to rest before we began our 4 hour drive home.
The children slept almost all the way home - and THAT'S a miracle!

Praise the Lord for His GOODNESS and for His wonderful works to the children of men...